Konohamaru and Shino had a lot of work to do that night. He’d only had a few hours of sleep prior to the knock on his door that woke him up immediately. There was only one person that was capable of showing up at that hour. Konohamaru opened the door and Shino made a small bow, before standing awkwardly for a moment. Konohamaru ushered for the ANBU leader to enter and it was then he noticed the shadows forming around his compound. This was something he was now getting used to as the Hokage Candidate. The piercing stares of shinobi hidden in the dark, their eyes trained so closely at his every move so unnerving, that Konohamaru nearly lost sleep the first day after the Delegates meeting.
Shino walked to the living room and studied the ceiling, his insects crawling to him and he then let them go. This Konohamaru was used to. Shino would occasionally show up to the Delegates houses to confirm the integrity of his chakra insects as well as if they were malnourished in any way. Shino then sat down.
“I’m sure you’ve heard the message Ino has sent.”
“I did. Isn’t that set for dawn?” Shino was silent for a moment to give Konohamaru time to consider what he was here for. “You’re here for Assisted Flying Thunder God?”
Shino nodded. “Ever since the last time we attempted it for a mission, you seem to have perfected it. I have a feeling that our village is not the only one that needs a heads up. If Sasuke felt the need to send an emergency message, then we have to find a way to let the other villages know before dawn. We can let Naruto know that he can set up a Five Kage meeting afterwards.”
“That makes sense. Assisted Flying Thunder God does take a lot of chakra. Even with Sage Mode, there’s a guarantee I’ll need a refill if I’m making 4 trips at once.”
Shino pointed to the bugs above. “The bugs infuse Nature chakra. I cannot use it because I’m not a Sage but you are. I imagine they can help.”
“What about keeping me within Konoha for the Hokage thing?”
“The Hokage is meant to be the strongest shinobi of Konoha, the ANBU leader, his immediate right hand. If both of us die at any point tonight, none of us are worthy of our roles.” Konohamaru winced at the harsh truth but conceded and gave a weak nod. Konohamaru took an empty scroll and began to seal it. Unlike the ordinary Flying Raijin, Assisted Flying Raijin had the user teleporting both himself and the person of choice by creating a seal that gives the other person their chakra signature, albeit temporarily. This form of teleportation is so chakra-heavy that Konohamaru has to access Sage Mode to use it and even then, it may take up nearly half of his capacity to hold Nature Energy. Once he was done with the scroll, Konohamaru imprinted his chakra and gave it to Shino.
“Do you remember what you are supposed to do once we start?” Shino nodded. The other important part was that the person given the scroll had to constantly feed it with chakra so the temporary signature did not disappear. If at any point in time this happened, the shinobi could risk being stuck in the void that allowed the technique to take place forever. As such, Konohamaru had opted not to use it until he was sure it was perfected. The first time Shino and Konohamaru attempted it, Shino was not able to have enough chakra control to travel and thus was left hanging while Konohamaru teleported. This time, both seemed prepared.
“Where do we go first?”
“That depends on how many you can carry at once. Can you bring back two people to Konoha?”
“Eeh! Two people, are you serious?”
“It sounds difficult.”
“Sasuke is a lot closer to us so we might as well try to get to him first. I don’t think I can carry two people but I can bring him back and then come back for you. Would that be fair?”
“I can work with that. Let’s go.” Konohamaru activated Flying Thunder God and they instantly appeared before Sasuke’s tent. Sasuke woke up and so did the young wolf. Sasuke got out of his tent and the wolf followed, wagging its tail excitedly.
“I assume you’re here because you’ve gotten my message.”
“Yes. We wanted to make sure we understood whether the situation was something that would only affect Konoha or if other villages needed to know. What is your perspective?”
“I was roaming around when I ended up fighting someone who was a former Sunagakure shinobi. She seems to be part of a group that is targeting the current Jinchuuriki, but has nothing to do with the Akatsuki. That’s all I can share for now. You’re planning to tell the other villages about it as well?”
“Yes,” Shino said, simply.
“As expected of Sasuke-senpai, immediately knowing what we’re up to.”
“So why are you here? Shouldn’t you be on your way to a village?”
“We came to transport you back so you can attend the meeting at dawn.” Konohamaru felt a bit too proud to say that. After years of hearing all about what Naruto and Sasuke could do for the village, being in a position where he could do things for them was a bit too exciting not to point out. However, Sasuke shot down the idea immediately.
“I’m not a priority, Konohamaru. I know there are only a few times you can use that technique so I’d rather not have it wasted on me. I’ll do my best to arrive in Konoha on time. In fact, I can start my journey now. You just head on to the other villages.” Konohamaru frowned a little but he understood. He turned his eyes to the wolf and the wolf walked over to him and sniffed Konohamaru for a bit, before deciding it was friendly.
“It looks injured. Dogs are much easier to transport with my summoning scrolls.”
“It’s not a priority either. I cannot confirm if it is an asset to Konoha or whether it will follow me all the way.”
“Where it is headed, it’ll meet ANBU shinobi. If it means harm, there’s no getting past them. Besides, it seems to like you, Sasuke-senpai.”
Sasuke sighed. “Do as you wish.” Konohamaru felt that he could sense a caring heart beyond the snarkiness of Sasuke. Konohamaru asked Shino to add a note to the dog so the ANBU can take care of it until they return and Shino obliged. Konohamaru then summoned the dog back to Konoha using his own chakra and then activated Sage Mode once more.
“We can head to Sunagakure’s Kazekage Office and then I’ll need to use the bugs.”
“Understood.”
“Sasuke-senpai, good luck on your journey.”
Sasuke nodded as he reformed the tent into his bag, sheathed his sword and began to race towards the village. Konohamaru activated Flying Raijin again and they landed near the Kazekage Office. Konohamaru was winded and fell to the floor, trying desperately to catch his breath. Two trips in and he was that exhausted. The ANBU of Sunagakure swarmed the two immediately and Shino held his hands up in the air. One familiar face popped out of the sea of the darkness. The purple face paint was enough to recognize him.
“You should be careful with how you choose to make your entrance, Konoha shinobi,” Kankuro stated, his eyes adjusting to the burning spotlight that shone on Konohamaru and Shino.
“We are only here for an emergency. We have reason to believe that a threat worth a Five Kage meeting is upon us.” Shino’s sternness took Kankuro aback.
“What? Where did you get that information?”
“For now, consider it a strong suspicion.”
“You want us to consider a Five Kage meeting upon the vague sense of danger?”
“It could be nothing. But the last time we were late to start attacking, we were nearly wiped out.”
Kankuro’s features softened. “I understand. But look at it from my end as well. We just barely survived one setback after another these last 2 decades. It does not reflect well upon us to keep looking like we can’t control things as powerful villages. Can I at least know the origin of this warning?”
“Uchiha Sasuke.” Shino then shared the little information Sasuke offered.
“That sounds like Maki, all right. We have been trying to locate her for a while now after she disappeared from an active mission. I don’t trust Sasuke, but I have no reason to dismiss his thoughts either. I’ll let Gaara know. You can go now but try not to use this technique the next time around here, even if it is an emergency.”
“That’s okay.” Shino’s bugs had offered enough Nature energy to help replenish Konohamaru and it was then that he noticed a poster plastered near the office that showed Killer Bee was going to perform in Sunagakure.
“The Killer Bee concert, can you stop it?”
“Aah, now that you mention it, we are going to have two Jinchuuriki present in the Land of Sand. This just keeps getting worse and worse. I don’t think we can stop it,” Kankuro admitted. “But maybe we can send an immediate report to the Daimyou to have it located closer to our village so we can keep an eye on both of them. It might even save you a trip if your purpose was to go to Kumogakure as well.” Konohamaru was thankful. Next up was Kirigakure.
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